Extra high mortality rate in NL continues to fall; slowly in nursing homes

The sudden spike in the number of weekly deaths in the Netherlands, which coincided with the outbreak  of the coronavirus, continues to decrease, Statistics Netherlands reported on Friday. Last week, week 17 of 2020, the number of deaths in the Netherlands was still 20 percent higher than before the coronavirus crisis. The decrease is slowest in nursing homes, where the number of deaths was still 65 percent higher.

Just over 2,500 people died in the Netherlands last week, according to Statistics Netherlands estimates based on reported deaths combined with data from health authorities. In the first 10 weeks of 2020, up until March 8, an average of 2,320 people died in the Netherlands per week. That jumped to 3,500 in week 14, after which the number of deaths started to fall again.

In nursing homes and care homes, an estimated 1,232 people died in week 17, a slight decrease from 1,357 the week before. In the first 10 weeks of the year, an average of 752 people died in Netherlands nursing- and care homes per week. That increased to a peak of 1,589 in week 15, after which the number of deaths started to fall again. 

The sudden increase in the number of deaths coincides with the coronavirus outbreak in the Netherlands, the stats office said. The first patient tested positive for Covid-19 on February 27, and the first coronavirus related death in the Netherlands was on March 6. On March 11, the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic.